Recently,
one of my ardent readers said, “Humans should not feel guilty about living
on Earth.…” He defended humanity’s overpopulation running roughshod over
the planet and the oceans. He defended that humans own the right to reproduce
themselves forever without end into eternity. He argued that we can add
another 20, 30 and 40 billion people to the planet without consequences.
He felt that our causing the extinction of over 100 species daily cannot
be our concern. He lacks any moral compunction or sense of responsibility
toward our fellow life-forms. He denied that human carbon footprint creates
climate destabilization. He advocates for unlimited population growth.
In other words: he lacks the intellectual horsepower to understand his
own dilemma. Another way to put it: dumb as a box of doorknobs.

A
hundred years ago, Alfred Whitehead in his “Adventures of Ideas”, made
a statement that spelled out a logical path for the advancement of the
human race: "The
foundation of all understanding...is that no static maintenance of perfection
is possible. This axiom is rooted in the nature of life. Advance
or decay are the only choices offered humanity. The pure conservative
is fighting against the essence of the universe."

Whitehead
said that we must change our thinking to fit new realities. We must take
Galileo’s new understandings that the Earth no longer enjoys the universe
revolving around it, but in fact, our planet remains a speck in the black
void of the universe. This planet remains finite with a finite carrying
capacity. Humans, to be sure, need to get a clue that they are not God’s
gift to the world. In fact, Shim Shimmel, the renowned artist said, “With
creatures like human beings, even the stars aren’t safe.”

With
more intelligent Americans surveyed recently, they were asked the question:
Do Americans think stabilizing population will help protect the environment?
Fifty-four percent believe stabilization will.

My
friend Steve Kurtz said, “Nothing on Earth happens in a vacuum.
It’s a closed system that begins to buckle under the sheer weight
of human demands. Scientists are increasingly linking population
growth and overconsumption to our environmental challenges.”

With
my six continents of bicycle travel, I unequivocally understand and
have seen firsthand that human overpopulation accelerates as the
single greatest and most dangerous issue facing humanity and all life
on this planet in the 21st
century.

In just the past few
months’ scientists have found in America:

• The
Colorado River system is under assault by a growing population, and
there are serious doubts it can meet the West’s demand for water in
the coming decades.

•
Florida’s aquifer,
the water supply for 19 million people, is experiencing saltwater
intrusion because of over-pumping.

•
The United States
will lose 36 million acres of forest to urban sprawl by 2050.

•
Sixty-six species of
coral should be classified as endangered because population and
consumption of resources are a driving factor in the threats they
face.

•
The Gunnison sage
grouse merits endangered-species protection in part because the human
population has doubled in its habitat and will double again in the
next 20 years.

•
Florida panthers
experienced the second year in a row of record-breaking road kills
deaths due to increased traffic and development in panther habitat.

According
to the Department of Interior, because of human encroachment, we lose
2,500 plants and animals to extinction in North America every decade.
That number will accelerate as we race toward an added 138 million
by 2050 and 625 million by the end of the century.

“Upwards
of two hundred species.. .mostly of the large, slow-breeding variety..
are becoming extinct here every day because more and more of the earth's
carrying capacity is systematically being converted into human carrying
capacity. These species are being burnt out, starved out, and squeezed
out of existence.. .thanks to technologies that most people, I'm afraid,
think of as technologies of peace. I hope it will not be too long before
the technologies that support our population explosion begin to be perceived
as no less hazardous to the future of life on this planet than the endless
production of radioactive wastes.” Daniel
Quinn

What’s
going on with our oceans defies and frightens even the “hardest” mentality:
100 million sharks killed annually for the past 20 years. Species extinction
rates blowing off the charts. Acidification of the oceans so many life
forms will go extinct including our reefs. Plastic devastation like the
Great Pacific Garbage Patch killing millions of marine and avian creatures
annually. Over 20,000 square mile dead zones at the mouths of rivers around
the world running raw sewage laden with chemicals 24/7. The list multiplies
as we multiply.

Americans
get it and our leaders need to get it and we all need to understand that
we cannot stand around with our noses stuck to a TV set. We need to participate
in our future and the future of our children.

The
poll asked: if mass extinctions of plants and animals were
unavoidable due to population growth, do we have a moral
responsibility to address the problem? Sixty percent said “Yes!”

Join me with Dave Chaffin, host
of the Morning Zone at 650 AM, www.KGAB.com
, Cheyenne, Wyoming every Monday 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., as we discuss
my latest commentaries on immigration-environment. You may stream the
show on your computer. You may call in at: 1-888-503-6500.

##

Frosty
Wooldridge has bicycled across six continents - from the Arctic to
the South Pole - as well as eight times across the USA, coast to
coast and border to border. In 2005, he bicycled from the Arctic
Circle, Norway to Athens, Greece. In 2012, he bicycled coast to coast
across America. He presents “The Coming Population Crisis facing
America: what to do about it.” www.frostywooldridge.com
. His latest book is: How to Live a Life of Adventure: The Art of
Exploring the World by Frosty Wooldridge, copies at 1 888 280 7715/
Motivational program: How to Live a Life of Adventure: The Art
of Exploring the World by Frosty Wooldridge, click:www.HowToLiveALifeOfAdventure.com